Breaking Up With Alcohol with Amanda Kuda
EPISODE #29: Breaking Up With Alcohol with Amanda Kuda
In this episode, Leah brings on Amanda Kuda to discuss all things sober-curious, breaking up with alcohol, and living at your highest potential. They discuss all of the following:
1:49 Amanda's new book: Unbottled Potential
3:57 Amanda's story
14:29 Living an alcohol-free life
10:47 Midwest drinking culture
21:44 Advice to the sober curious
35:45 Tips for living an alcohol-free lifestyle
Leah, 5/1 Sacral Generator, and Amanda, 4/6 Sacral Manifesting Generator, talk about what it’s like to live an alcohol-free life. Amanda shares her journey with alcohol and what led to her break up with it. The pair discuss how your human design type relates to living in alignment without alcohol consumption. For anyone curious about breaking up with alcohol, this episode is for you!
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RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Amanda Kuda's info
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Book a reading with Leah
IG: @thedesignofyou / @leahmccloud
Intro/Outro song is 6am by Young Mooski
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00]
Leah: Hi, welcome back to another episode of The Design of You. Today's episode is all about breaking up with alcohol. This is for the sober curious. This is for anyone who is interested in re evaluating their relationship with alcohol. If you're, if you already are sober, this is still a great episode. If you are, Someone who is not even interested in being sober.
[00:00:24]
Leah: I think this is still a great episode So it's really for everyone, but I am just so honored to bring on Amanda Kuda who is someone I had no idea About until she reached out to me to come on my podcast and now I have been just loving being in her world on social Media, and I have learned so much from her.
[00:00:42]
Leah: In fact When we recorded this episode, which was back in June, I, I completely re re shifted, shifted my relationship with alcohol since we talked. And I have been at a phase of my life where I've been really disinterested in consuming alcohol. And honestly, probably since 2018, I've been evaluating my relationship with alcohol in a lot of ways.
[00:01:08]
Leah: And I'm about to be 28. In fact, when this episode launches, it will be exactly a month before my 28th birthday. And I will say that it feels like finally everyone in my life is kind of at this phase 2 of being sober curious and figuring out, you know, what alcohol adds or You know, removes from their life.
[00:01:27]
Leah: And so it has been really cool to talk to Amanda because I feel like it just could not have come at a more perfect time where I really feel like things are shifting for me and I really. Yeah. So we recorded this in June and since then it has just been, it's made such a difference in my life. And so I'm, I'm just excited for you guys to hear a little bit more about her and what she does.
[00:01:49]
Leah: Something to just know before we dive in is that. Amanda just released a book called Unbottled Potential. It is, , it's available in all the places. I'll link everything down below. And I have had a copy of this book. It's phenomenal. Amanda is phenomenal. And I will say that, you know, one of the things that I really love about her is that she has this like nonjudgmental approach to speaking about alcohol, because her thing is all about, you know, you have so much potential on the other side of this bottle.
[00:02:21]
Leah: Hence why her book is called Unbottled Potential. And she really coaches people and works with people on becoming a better version of themselves by removing this substance. And as you all know, I teach human design and I am very in touch with intuition and I love talking about intuition and manifestation.
[00:02:40]
Leah: And something that I've been realizing for a while now is that. Alcohol can really bring us away from our intuition. Now, I don't think alcohol is an evil substance quite, like, I don't think that it's the most horrible thing in the world, but I think it's all about the power of intention, which I have an episode all about the power of intention, which I actually talk a little bit about alcohol on that episode.
[00:03:02]
Leah: I will link it down below so you can tune in to that. But I originally was going to share a pretty in depth story about my relationship with alcohol in my life, , at the beginning of this. In fact, I recorded this, this is probably the 10th plus time I've recorded this intro because I kept telling this story about my life and the alcoholics in my life and how alcohol has impacted me in a lot of ways indirectly and directly.
[00:03:29]
Leah: But I feel like that is an episode for another time that I do not want to get into today. So. That's something that I'll plan for in the future at some point when I feel comfortable and called to it, but it didn't feel right by my intuition to do that for this episode. So let's dive into today's episode so you guys can hear about unbottled potential with Amanda.
[00:03:57]
Leah: All right, everyone. I have the amazing Amanda Kuda here to talk about all things alcohol and bringing up with your relationship with alcohol. And we're going to just dive right into it. So Amanda, I'd love to just start with you introducing yourself and tell us a little bit about your story.
[00:04:15]
Amanda: Yeah. Well, my name is Amanda and I am a coach.
[00:04:18]
Amanda: I'm a podcaster and I'm a new author. I have a book coming out in October, all about breaking up with alcohol so that you can break through to your best life. And I kind of stumbled upon this concept accidentally, about seven or eight years ago when I started on my spiritual journey. You know, was starting to work with a spiritual teacher and he turned me on to the series of books, which turned me on to Oprah, which turned me on to all of these spiritual teachers.
[00:04:44]
Amanda: And I was in my late twenties at that point, really living out a party girl lifestyle. And none of my teachers so much said it, but I kind of started to get this intuition that I needed to stop drinking if I wanted to live the life. That I really wanted to have. And so at that point in time, there weren't really people talking about sobriety as a personal and spiritual development tool.
[00:05:06]
Amanda: It was all AA recovery, alcoholism. And while that is a very important path, if that's a path that you feel called to or attracted to or, or feel it's necessary, that wasn't my story. And so I really wanted to break up with alcohol, but everywhere I turned, there were just people me. If you don't have a problem.
[00:05:25]
Amanda: You should just figure it out. You should learn to moderate. You should keep going. It's all good. So people were just reaffirming the relationship with alcohol that I had that I didn't want. And I kept thinking there has to be a better way than this. And I know that if I put my mind to it, I can figure it out.
[00:05:42]
Amanda: And I did. And so I start stopped drinking in January, 2017, six and a half years ago. Congratulations. Thank you. It's been a while. And through that path, I developed kind of this. Personal development and spiritual development curriculum that really leans on sobriety as a foundational tool. And I realized that being alcohol free was this competitive edge.
[00:06:06]
Amanda: It helped me, you know, my book is called unbottled potential because it helps you.
[00:06:09]
Leah: I love your title. It's amazing.
[00:06:11]
Amanda: So good. These are like manifesting things that just like come into my sphere when I open up to them. And I found that. And we can talk all about manifestation and spirituality, but I found that the things that I desire and the things that I want to manifest have come into my life more quickly and with greater ease being an alcohol free person.
[00:06:31]
Amanda: And I just really wanted to share that with other people because I wanted other people who felt like me, who were regular social drinkers, who started to feel a little incongruent with it. Know that they could have a path in a community and tools to help them get rid of this thing from their life that no longer felt like it was serving them.
[00:06:49]
Amanda: And they didn't have to go to any sort of recovery program to do it if it didn't feel right. And that's what I've been doing for the past five years. I've been teaching about elective sobriety and spirituality and manifestation. And I'm super excited to talk today because I think we're going to have some really juicy conversations.
[00:07:08]
Leah: Yeah, and I think what you really have created is a perfect gap in this area where I really do think that there is a space for people to lean into their sobriety without it being, you know, so AA focused or, you know, like they have a problem because I think a lot of times it's not necessarily having a problem.
[00:07:25]
Leah: it's a lot of times just like you said, there's unbottled potential. There's a higher version of yourself that is on the other side of consuming the alcohol that you do every weekend or, you know, every evening or whatever that may be. And, and I think that why people don't get the help that they need, even if it, even if it's not that they need, like, again, to go to rehab or something more dramatic there.
[00:07:48]
Leah: It's nice to have a program available for people to be able to learn about themselves to get closer to who they are just by, you know, removing this, the substance and it's such a timely conversation. And I was sharing this with Amanda at the beginning because I have been in this weird relationship with alcohol.
[00:08:05]
Leah: I just shared this on my Instagram to where. You know, my mom is an alcoholic and in my family, I come from a huge family of alcoholics as well. And some of them may or may not want to admit that they drink too much. And so I've always had a very strange relationship with alcohol, where it was like, you know, the cool thing to do.
[00:08:22]
Leah: And like you I'm in my late twenties, I'll be 28 this year and closely after this podcast releases actually. And, You know, it's, it's interesting because I feel like I am getting that little intuitive nudge, like this, isn't the best thing for you. This isn't right for me. And I actually recorded a podcast episode.
[00:08:41]
Leah: It was one of my first episodes on the power of intention. And I talk a lot about alcohol and, this intentional relationship that I built with it, that was really supportive, but I find that I kind of fall off that intentional path sometimes when it comes to drinking. All of a sudden I am, you know, like, okay, that I think I went a little overboard the other night or, you know, one drink too many.
[00:09:02]
Leah: And for me as like a spiritual teacher, I'm almost realizing the bigger, the greater gap that I create with myself through consuming alcohol. So again, it's so timely just because I've been in this, this place. I actually went, I think two weeks without drinking. And then this past weekend I drank a little bit and.
[00:09:22]
Leah: You know, and I will say, I woke up Sunday and I felt okay, but I was like, you know, like, what was the point of that? And even, you know, Xander, my, my partner and I, we were talking, we're like, what was the point of drinking last night? Like, we, we obviously it was nice out. Like, our friends and I, we were like, going places.
[00:09:35]
Leah: We, you know, went to a couple of different bars and just hopped around, but we're like, you know, checking our bank statements in the morning. And it's like, why, why do we. Why do we spend so much money on alcohol? And like, what was really the point? Like we weren't at a wedding, we weren't celebrating anything special.
[00:09:50]
Leah: I mean, yeah, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. And like, we connected with our friends, which is important, but also like, is that the setting we have to do that under, or is there other ways we can do this? So. Yeah. So timely. And so I'd love to hear, I can see you grinning. So I'm like, you have like, I'm just like tracking all of these things.
[00:10:07]
Amanda: Yeah. I'm sure.
[00:10:09]
Leah: You know, all the things that you've worked with, with hundreds of women.
[00:10:11]
Amanda: Absolutely. And this is probably one of my favorite kind of rabbit holes to go down because I know that you and everyone who is listening has this really mystical way of viewing the world and viewing themselves because human design is just this.
[00:10:26]
Amanda: Radical, amazing tool that can help, you know, your authentic self and I'll, Oh man, I just felt like I was going to cry for a second. I, I think that the thing that we lose track of when we are coming into adulthood is that authentic version of us, which you see in, in our charts. Right. And I know that, you know, I'll just share my version of the story.
[00:10:47]
Amanda: And I think that maybe you and some people listening might relate that. I, you know, especially we both grew up in the Midwest, so it just very, I grew up in a very small town and Midwestern culture is very well known for, you know, you know, you drink all through the winter because it's cold and there's nothing to do.
[00:11:04]
Amanda: And then, Oh, the summer hits, but we don't stop drinking. We actually drink more because now we can go out on the boat and get on the boat. It's this like, we actually don't ever stop. And that's what I grew up with a permission to do. And I remember being really young and. Knowing that fundamentally at a core level that I thought different and was different from my peers and in this very like wild and wonderful way like I remember watching the movie Matilda and really relating to this little girl who was magical, like literally magical.
[00:11:36]
Amanda: And with the black sheep of her family and at school and the only person who really got her was her teacher. And I thought, you know, whoa, that feels on some level like me. And I could not move objects with my brain,
[00:11:48]
Leah: But literally just gave me goosebumps because like, this is weird because I have the exact same relationship with the movie Matilda.
[00:11:57]
Leah: And I literally have goosebumps, which is, I always say is a wink from the universe as like something that's. That's completely true. So crazy, but go on. Sorry.
[00:12:05]
Amanda: No, it's just, no, no, no, no. That's so good because you're not the only one who's feeling that then there's someone else, many someone else's listening who are like, Whoa, yeah, that was me.
[00:12:14]
Amanda: And I realized growing up in my Midwestern small town that I couldn't be this unique. And I'm a very, very, very, very fully, fully expressed version of this unique person that I was. And so being someone who's very perceptive and intuitive, I started tracking. What are the things that it's okay to present?
[00:12:29]
Amanda: And what can I dial back just a little bit so that I can better fit in? And as I did that more and more and more, I started to lose track of that mystical magical little girl. And then, you know, we get into adolescence and we have. This tool presented to us. It's alcohol that actually helps kind of quiet down that voice that says you're different.
[00:12:49]
Amanda: You're strange. You're not like everyone else here. Have this. This will help it feel better. It'll help you fit in. And it also quiet some of that that confusion in your head of You know, who, how, who am I supposed to be? It's, it starts to kind of dole down that voice, but it also takes away your ability to reconnect with it because you're always kind of dull and always kind of fuzzy.
[00:13:12]
Amanda: So you start to lose track of that authentic version of you as well. Just because even though, you know, like you or I both probably drink at the same level, I only really drink on the weekends, but I was always feeling a little groggy. And I remember, you know, in my. Maybe right after I turned 30, even I was on a date with this guy and he, and I had gone on several dates and I really respected his opinion.
[00:13:36]
Amanda: And he looked at me dead in the eye and he said, you know, man, I feel like you're being really calculated with me. And I felt like I was exposed, like punched in the gut exposed and that he caught on to something I didn't even realize I was doing. And that was. Trying to be a version of me that I thought that he wanted me to be.
[00:13:55]
Amanda: And I think that we all, you know, find places in our life where we, we do that at some level, but I was definitely putting on a show and not allowing this unique creature to come out. And it was in that moment that I made a commitment to figure out who my authentic self was and try to be her, not for him, but for me, because I deserved it.
[00:14:13]
Amanda: And I knew.
[00:14:14]
Leah: How beautiful for him to even share that with you too. So, so beautiful. Confronting for sure. But like also that's, you know, that's helpful if you get anything from a date, it's like you may as well share with someone like, Hey, I think there's, you know, learn from the experiences of why something's not working out or, you know.
[00:14:29]
Amanda: Such a big gift. He was one of the, you know, it was one of the foundational pieces of my journey because I had done just enough work that I could hear him and I could say, wow, you're right. So I knew as I was kind of embarking on that journey that I needed to, that alcohol couldn't be a piece of the picture.
[00:14:50]
Amanda: I just kind of knew it, but I tried to ignore it because it was fun and I was young and that's what I was supposed to do. But at the end of the day, I wanted so deeply to know my authentic self and who I was that. I decided that the, the, in the scale of keep drinking and be like everyone else, or actually tap into this beautiful map of a person who is me, I chose that path.
[00:15:14]
Amanda: And I found that it's been so much easier to connect to myself, my authenticity, my spiritual connection, my intuition, all of these things with alcohol fully out of the picture. So that's what came up for me when you kind of were, were explaining to just that. You know, we are dealing with a world where people want to know more about themselves.
[00:15:35]
Amanda: And yet every time you drink, you hide a little bit of yourself, you keep a little bit of yourself doled down. So if we're on this mission to express ourselves fully and be live out our design, what are we doing when we drink, but kind of taking ourselves off path. Exactly.
[00:15:52]
Leah: that is exactly what you just said is so perfectly just wrapped up because I feel like so many people think that when they drink, they actually become more of who they are and they feel more authentic because their walls are down and they have different conversations and they can connect with people.
[00:16:09]
Leah: And, and I think that's always been one of the reasons why I, I would say struggle with my relationship because I do love that aspect. Like I love. It's something I love to do is, and it's why I do my work is because I love to help people. And so by helping people, I like the relationship that I can build under the influence of alcohol when I'm with others and they open up to me.
[00:16:30]
Leah: But what I realized is like, I am, I become less close with myself in those situations because I'll have a night where. You know, we're drinking and a friend is, you know, sharing something with me and I'm helping her and we're having a deep conversation and I'm learning so much about this person and what they're dealing with.
[00:16:48]
Leah: And I, and it's cool that they have these inhibitions that have been lowered to share these, you know, truths with me. But then it's like, then I wake up the next day and then I am struggling with my own relationship with. Myself and so I'm like, okay, great. I got to help this person, but I find that when we drink, I think that's one of the reasons why people continue to drink.
[00:17:08]
Leah: But then also, it's like, it's kind of a double edged sword because then again, you, you have that moment, but then you ruin it for yourself the next day. Whereas like. If at all points, it's almost like, okay, I just got an aha moment. It's almost like when we are sober and we're afraid to have those sorts of conversations, it takes so much courage and we actually go through emotional, I guess, triumphs or, experiences that were designed to have as humans, like to be afraid and do it anyway, to get uncomfortable, to share things from our heart, to have courage, to be vulnerable, and it's like, when we drink, yeah, we do some of those things, but we don't always do it in the most authentic way.
[00:17:46]
Leah: and then we feel horrible the next day. And so you never actually have that lesson of, you know, I have courage, I'm vulnerable, I'm, you know, authentic and I share who I am and I overcome my fears because you're really not, you are. And you're probably not even saying it in the way that needs to be said when you're drinking all the time as well.
[00:18:04]
Leah: Mm-Hmm. Right. I don't know what I'm trying to say.
[00:18:05]
Amanda: Yeah. I get, I get what, I get what you're saying because I've experienced it. It's this thing that we think alcohol helps us connect. But really it's cheating because if it actually helped us, then we wouldn't need it or we'd be better at connecting the next day.
[00:18:21]
Amanda: And it's kind of like, like, let's say, yeah, you, you think that you're a great swimmer. You say that you're a great swimmer, but you've only ever swam with a life jacket on. So then, then if we took the life jacket off, what would happen? You would freak out and flounder because you've never been taught to float and swim.
[00:18:39]
Amanda: And yet, and I love this analogy because when we swim with a life jacket on, it feels like we're doing the thing, but we're only skimming the surface and life is so much deeper than that. And if you learn to swim with it off, you can dive deep instead of just floating on the surface. And you can learn to do it naturally, but.
[00:18:58]
Amanda: If you're always using a tool to kind of like cheat or fake it, then it makes it that much more difficult to have those strange, those hard conversations or those vulnerable conversations. And I can say from the perspective of someone who has felt a little awkward, especially in romantic situations, like I would use liquid courage all the time in those situations to try and like say vulnerable or tough things.
[00:19:22]
Amanda: And now I just realized that I, I can do it. And I am so much better at just approaching tough conversations and having them when they need to be had, instead of like putting it off until I have enough liquid courage to do it, which really isn't helpful because then you're not speaking from your highest self either.
[00:19:38]
Leah: Yeah. And it's such a catch 22 because then there's like, All the other effects, right? Like when you drink, it ruins your gut, which has a lot to do with your mental health and, you know, anxiety, which is something I experienced quite a bit, or you have, you know, hormone problems because alcohol affects so many different things.
[00:19:53]
Leah: So even. If then you're having those hard conversations a day or two later, you're still not mentally clear because your body's still recovering from what you put it through over the weekend, or maybe you do that every single day. Like so many people I know have a glass of wine at dinner, right? Or, yeah.
[00:20:10]
Leah: You know, and I, I can't personally do that. Like, I'm, I'm like, you were, you know, I'm in the phase of I don't drink during the week very rarely. And then on the weekends, I'll indulge. But, you know, I think 1 of the other things that I want to talk about, too, is just the that clarity that comes in your brain when you stop drinking because I.
[00:20:28]
Leah: Don't drink during the week. But when I drink on the weekends, I always say Thursday's like my favorite day of the week. And it's quite literally because that's when I feel like my brain gets clear after the weekend. And that's when I started to really start to reframe my, my relationship with alcohol, because I now I'm a business owner, I've stepped into my work as a human design, you know, expert, and I have a whole business and I work with people one on one.
[00:20:55]
Leah: Something else I want to talk about later is I do psychic mediumship work, which I've just been stepping into. And my relationship with alcohol is like becoming more and more of a problem with that work. And, you know, with my business, being a business owner, I'm like, I can't show up fully for my business.
[00:21:12]
Leah: When my brain is like just so foggy, like I can't show up and do the things that I have to do to, to make money, you know, to be successful and to help more people. It's not about making money. It's because I like to help people. And so how can I, how can my mission be lived out when, you know, I have this thing that really holds me back.
[00:21:30]
Leah: And, and, you know, again, I can help my friends on the weekends every now and again, but I don't want to do that on my weekends. Like I want to have fun, but I don't want it to be, you know, this thing that affects all the other areas of my life. So. Again, just, you can run with that, but that's just some other.
[00:21:44]
Amanda: Thoughts I have. First of all, you, you deserve to make money and be abundant. We all do. And if, and you deserve to make money for your good work. And you also deserve to share that people deserve to be able to have your best you and receive your gifts that you have, that you are cultivating. And you're right.
[00:21:58]
Amanda: Like you can't do that. If you're constantly just a little bit fuzzy or just a little bit diluted. And that's how I felt too. Like I. Did not realize how long the effects of alcohol were lasting in my system until I wasn't feeling them anymore. I think that I was probably right around then. I think that maybe about Wednesday or Thursday, I started to get back at full capacity after a weekend of drinking.
[00:22:20]
Amanda: And then you have one day because Friday is usually kind of just like a Friday, you kind of catch up and then go. And I. Was like, wow, look at how much of my valuable brain space and time I'm wasting. And from an intuitive perspective, you know, you can always connect with your intuition. You can always connect with your, your psychic powers and ability.
[00:22:42]
Amanda: But when you put alcohol into the system, it's like trying to connect to your intuition on a lake. , version one cell phone in a tunnel. It's just going to be kind of foggy, but if you came out of that tunnel and we're standing, you know, with a state of the art brand new iPhone, you're going to get a much better connection.
[00:23:02]
Amanda: So it's not like you're being punished. It's just the connection doesn't work when you are diluting the system. And, you know, I think that you will start to start to recognize this. If you decide to take a little bit of a longer break, because. And I would say that usually 90 days is when I usually start seeing those intuitive and psychic things come online.
[00:23:25]
Amanda: But I feel so much more connected to my intuition and to spirit and to any sort of other, you know, extra abilities that I have now that I've really given time to connect with them and cultivate those skills, but also have a very clear mind and heart. And it's really powerful. You have some powerful things within you that you deserve to be able to share with people.
[00:23:48]
Amanda: And if they're always kind of operating at half capacity, it's not going to work the same. Yeah. And
[00:23:54]
Leah: it's not even my, you know, and they're not even my gifts too. Like it's everyone who, you know, everyone has specific gifts and it's not about being a psychic medium, but everyone has an intuition. And, and if they allow themselves to just be clear, you might be able to hear it and you might not be so confused.
[00:24:11]
Leah: And you might be able to make. You know, better decisions for not only your spiritual health, but your, you know, physical health and your wellness and all the things. And so I'd love to hear a little bit more about what you do to work with people in a sort of spiritual way in terms of alcohol and really just all the ways that you, you work and what are some of the pillars of the work that you do?
[00:24:32]
Amanda: Yeah. You know, I do take a very spiritual approach to changing your relationship with alcohol because that's what I use and that's what I needed. And we teach what we know. Right. And so I think that there's always the aspect of you have to, you have to be willing to quit alcohol and muscle through that discomfort and get through that, that challenge of navigating the world alcohol free.
[00:24:51]
Amanda: And so there's of course, some mindset work that I do with my clients around, how do we get this thing out of the picture? How do we commit to it? How do we And how do you shift your way of thinking and a lot of that is not by telling you that alcohol is bad, wrong or evil because I'm not here to beat you with a stick and make you feel ashamed for this thing that you've done that was.
[00:25:11]
Amanda: Completely fed to you as normal because it wasn't, it is drinking alcohol as normal.
[00:25:16]
Leah: So every TV show, every, every book, every, everything, everything, even if you're in the middle, it's very everything. Oh, truly.
[00:25:23]
Amanda: Like, even like the kind of more spiritual or wholesome shows they're drinking on them. And I, it's everywhere you go and everyone's telling you, it's okay to do it.
[00:25:32]
Amanda: You deserve it. You need it. You require it. And it takes a lot of bravery and tenacity to go away from what is the norm. And yet, You are meant to live a big life. You are meant to live a life beyond your wildest dreams. And if you want that, you can't keep doing all of the mediocre things, all of the normal things everyone else is doing.
[00:25:52]
Amanda: You have to do something radical in your life. And I promise you that nothing is going to give you a spiritual, professional, emotional, social, whatever competitive edge you want. more than getting alcohol out of the picture because it's going to open up the gateways for you to operate at a higher level at everything that you're doing.
[00:26:08]
Amanda: And so we work on the actual quitting piece, but more than that, I really want to provide people with spiritual mindsets and solutions to help them. solve problems that they were using alcohol to bypass before. So we know that alcohol doesn't help us get over anxiety or overwhelm or frustration or indecision or lack of clarity, but we can find spiritual solutions for those things.
[00:26:30]
Amanda: So how can we tap into the resources that are available to us, tap into our inner knowing and intuition, which is available to you when you are clear minded and clear hearted and use that as our guiding force versus saying. You know, kind of what we say subconsciously when we drink is, I don't know the answer.
[00:26:48]
Amanda: I'm not capable of having the answer. I'm too nervous to figure this out. And so we, we kind of outsource our, our emotions to alcohol, or we, or we try to get rid of them. And so finding these spiritual solutions to things that we used to use alcohol to deal with. And then my really favorite part of the work is to teach.
[00:27:07]
Amanda: Individuals how they can manifest at a faster level when they're alcohol free, and I really find that being alcohol free higher raises your vibration, plus all of the additional work that you teach, and that probably the people who listen to the show are already doing. It accelerates that to a level that you can become a very quick, easy, energetic match for the things you wanted and the things you want and desire, whereas when you're drinking, you're always just a little bit away.
[00:27:34]
Amanda: and I think that I'd love to. Dive into that a little bit more, but really the, the process that I teach is breakup with alcohol, shift your mindset and find spiritual and practical solutions as well. There are some like tactical things we can do and elevate your energetic vibration so that you can be a magnet for the things you deserve and desire.
[00:27:54]
Amanda: And I think that that's a really magical combination. It's not for everyone. I don't think that everyone who's on an alcohol free journey will buy with it. But I think that for the people who are on a spiritual path, really, it's a very helpful way to look at it that is a little more sophisticated to than some of the kind of shamey approaches to sobriety.
[00:28:16]
Amanda: Yeah.
[00:28:18]
Leah: That's so true. I feel like there's so many shameful conversations that people have around sobriety and, and in my own experience. So my mom's an alcoholic and, with her alcohol, I think that her relationship with alcohol has made such an impact on my relationship with alcohol because I don't like, I don't like the way that, I'm trying to be very cautious because I know I have people who listen to my podcast that, I don't want to over, I don't want to out a family member.
[00:28:51]
Amanda: Well, can I give you a, can I give you a frame that I think maybe you can say, yes, this, this resonates. I also, first of all, I like just really honor you and your mom. Cause I know that that's really difficult and that part of her doesn't have a choice. And how, how she interacts and that that's impacted you as her daughter and impacted how you show up.
[00:29:12]
Amanda: my, my step mom was also an alcoholic and very textbook and I saw her go through these stages of fully being powerless over alcohol. And I remember as a young girl thinking. Wow. I'm never going to do that. And so when I started drinking, when I finally made the decision that I was going to join the club, I always had this little post it note in the back of my mind saying, I can do this, but I can control it.
[00:29:37]
Amanda: So I'll never let it get as bad as her. And so there was this like measuring stick that I had. And because I'm strong willed, or maybe because I Nipped it in the bud before it got that bad, or maybe because I don't quite have the gene or whatever, who knows why I never did let it get that bad, but it always like left me as a way to see like, Oh, I'm okay, I can keep doing this because I have like control of this thing.
[00:30:02]
Amanda: And it wasn't about like what she was doing was bad or wrong, because I really just look at it in, you know, she just. Her heart was hurting and that's the way that she knew how to fix it. And I, you know, I would imagine your mom or anyone who suffers with alcoholism, or alcohol use disorder or whatever term you resonate with.
[00:30:23]
Amanda: I know that your heart is hurting, right? And it's hard to watch that in someone you love, but it's also really easy to say. Okay, I'm going to learn this lesson through them and choose not to get that bad. Therefore, as long as I never get that bad, I can keep doing this. Yeah. As long as I don't get that bad, this is okay.
[00:30:39]
Leah: And usually it's not. And I love exactly how you phrase that. And thank you so much because yeah, for me, it's been. Witnessing my mom be an alcoholic has always made my relationship with alcohol very weird and I don't think I realized she was an alcoholic until I got a little bit older and then I can't remember the moment that I was like, Oh, she's an alcoholic, but then, you know, she's been to rehab a few times and.
[00:31:04]
Leah: By my mom's emergency contact and lots of things that I deal with on a heavy note. And so I think to your point, yeah, it's like a lot of times my relationship with alcohol sometimes is like, well, you know, it's, it can never be that bad. Or, you know, I don't drink the way that she does. I drink to have fun, not to, you know, seep in my sorrows, but to your point, exactly like hearts hurting and that relationship.
[00:31:29]
Leah: My mom and I are very close and she still is a drinker and we, , we talk all the time, but she, it's like, I almost have to put that in a compartment. And I'm like, you know, I'm just going to like, just allow her to be her because if she wants help, she'll get the help. And, you know, sometimes the other thing that I think about is like, I would like to lead by example.
[00:31:48]
Leah: And because I know that when I see people like you, Amanda, who Don't drink. It gives me permission to do the same. Like there's another, there's quite a few people I follow online that are business owners or they have spiritual work that they do and they don't drink. And those are like my expanders where I'm like, okay, those are people that do what I do.
[00:32:06]
Leah: And they've been able to overcome this. And again, it's not about having a problem per se, but something I actually really would be curious about to hear from you is what are the common, What are the common things or steps that you see in people as they quit alcohol? I know boredom is probably one of them, or like conversations they have with other people who are, who ask them, you know, do you want to drink?
[00:32:31]
Leah: I'd love to hear kind of the phases that people go through and all of those experiences and how to work through them. So I think that's another big thing that people are always like, I just hate when people ask me why I'm not drinking. Like they think I have a problem, that sort of thing.
[00:32:43]
Amanda: You know? Yeah.
[00:32:44]
Amanda: Okay. So the first stage is kind of the stage where you're in right now, where you've managed to take some like tangible breaks from out. Well, actually the first stage is just like. Oh, you're starting to get a little sober curious. Maybe you're trying to moderate like cold turkey, moderate your drinking.
[00:32:56]
Amanda: Maybe you're starting to, you know, follow a few people or notice more frequently that people are talking about sobriety. And then there's the stage where you decide to try and take some tangible breaks and you start to kind of see how ingrained it is in your lifestyle and society and start to see, you know, try to maybe like reckon with yourself of, okay, well, here's some rules I'm going to create to make this to where I can.
[00:33:20]
Amanda: Still drink, but also still do some other things and we start to try and rationalize our drinking, and start to make some rules for ourselves. And then once we get, once we've maybe realized that making rules isn't as effective as we thought, kind of like you said, like going out with the best of intentions.
[00:33:38]
Amanda: And I always said I would, I would plan to have just a few and that would frequently turn into a few too many. And I would just be beating myself up and trying to figure out like where I went wrong. And once I finally got freaking tired of that process and realizing, realize I won't have to manage this or monitor it or make rules or like keep track of all these things that I was tracking in my brain.
[00:34:00]
Amanda: If it just became a no, if I just stopped. And so then there's this phase of, okay, let's decide to take a big break. And that's when you start to really see the. The ways in which alcohol is perpetuated our society because you have to decide how are you going to tell people what you're doing right now?
[00:34:17]
Amanda: How are you going to talk about, the decision to abstain for an hour? You know, I always say not to say forever. That's too stressful for you and everyone around you.so I don't do, I don't play the forever game. I always, you know, deal with like little increments of time. So 90 days, six months, a year.
[00:34:35]
Amanda: Tons of scripts for all of this as well, but it's like talking to people about it and presenting it. And also because this is the most difficult for people like you and I, or other people who are listening, who are very empathic. And a lot of times we drink because not because we want to, but because we feel bad about other people being uncomfortable.
[00:34:54]
Amanda: And so when we see that everyone else is doing it and that it's awkward that we're not instead of just standing our ground and being like, no, I'm. A badass. I'm doing this thing and I'm doing it for me. We give in. And so there's, I, especially for people who are highly empathic and highly intuitive, I think there's this extra stage of feeling uncomfortable around other people and feeling like we're hurting their feelings or silently judging them because of something we're deciding to do for, to make our lives better.
[00:35:22]
Amanda: And I think that's really the most awkward part, because I can tell you so many of my clients have quote unquote given in during that vulnerable period where They, they just want to fit in, they don't know quite how to be their authentic self yet, and they're feeling the pressure not to make others feel weird.
[00:35:39]
Amanda: So there's that big phase of, of the journey, and then as you guess.
[00:35:45]
Leah: What are some tools that you, that you give people in that phase?
[00:35:48]
Amanda: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. So the first thing that I, I recommend is if you don't feel, , like your constitution is strong enough to say, Nope, that's not for me, I'm not doing it. Mm hmm.
[00:36:00]
Amanda: Then stay home, just stay home for a while. You don't have to stay home forever. I personally was a very headstrong person and I was like, no, I'm going to prove everyone wrong. I'm going to go out and do this so no one can stop me. So I kind of went out and mostly did all of the same things, but there are very many versions of people who aren't like that, who probably would be best served if they, and there were a couple of things that I didn't do that I just realized.
[00:36:23]
Amanda: That they weren't going to be fun, not that I couldn't withstand them, but that it was just going to be really painful and boring. So I always say, if you don't feel like you're stubborn enough, just don't go, do not go. And it's not forever. It's just, as you build up some muscle and confidence, but the fact of the matter is at some point you have to go and you have to get comfortable with saying, no, this is who I am.
[00:36:46]
Amanda: This is what I'm doing. I'm really proud of it. And then you can start integrating back in. So, the first tool is just a permission slip to stay home. The second is to kind of have a little bit of a script available for yourself. You know, I think if you're going to a situation where you know people, it's, it's best practice to just tell them in advance, like via a text message.
[00:37:08]
Amanda: So there's a little less pressure for you for sure. And I always say just in a quick text, because people want to support you. And if you can say, Hey, Friend, by the way, I'm not drinking through the summer or through the fall or through the winter or whatever season you choose. I just wanted to let you know in advance, since we normally drink when we're together, but you, I support whatever you want to do.
[00:37:27]
Amanda: Don't change your behavior. I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to, and I appreciate your encouragement and leave it at that. I think that trying to say something on the spot is the most difficult and I will tell you, I still love up sometimes I still like get shell shocked and say something that I didn't mean to say, even though I've been doing this for almost seven years.
[00:37:49]
Amanda: So having a little bitty script of, oh, I'm not drinking right now is great. you know, where you and I live in California and, and Austin, it's a lot more acceptable, but depending upon where people live, I'll give them more deliberate scripts. So if I'm scripting someone from the Midwest where it's almost unfathomable that you would not drink, I give them a little more detailed script, but there's different scripts that you can use for different scenarios and different levels and also different.
[00:38:17]
Amanda: geographical areas that can be really quick to the point and get you over some of those uncomfortable humps so you're not kind of fumbling over your words.
[00:38:26]
Leah: Yeah, what do you, what do you think about people getting a drink that's not an actual alcoholic drink like mocktails or I know something that I've done before is I've been able to, like I'll get like a.
[00:38:41]
Leah: A soda water with a lime. Like I've straight up gone to a bar tender and said, give me a soda water with lime and make it look like a drink. And it was so funny. I remember this one night I was at this bar and they kept putting mine in this tall glass cup because it wasn't an alcoholic drink. They kept putting it in a, like a special cup.
[00:38:58]
Leah: And I literally went back. I'm like, please make it look like I am drinking. This was in 2019. So this was like, I was basically going through some major anxiety that year and went through this whole sort of. I didn't drink for about a month, because of my anxiety, but I remember going out and that was, it was one, it was hard to have that conversation.
[00:39:17]
Leah: So I didn't have the conversation. Yeah. So what I would do is go to the bar and be like, Hey, and so I remember going back up to this bartender and I'm like, no, like I need you to put it in a normal cup. I'm in, they were so confused. This was in the Midwest. They were so confused. They're like, well, when we serve water, we put it in a bigger one.
[00:39:31]
Leah: I'm like, I understand. But my friend already asked me, why are you drinking? What are you drinking? Like, why is it in this like special container? And I'm like, can you just please just soda water, ice, some limes in the like small little cup that all the other people have.
[00:39:45]
Amanda: And yeah, I think there's different stages you go through there as well.
[00:39:48]
Amanda: One where you're trying to be kind of covert. And and just ordering and not talking about what's in your glass. And that's absolutely fine. I think especially when you're kind of getting your feet under you, that's really important to have the permission slip to do that. And yes, sometimes you have to go like make a bargain with a bartender.
[00:40:05]
Amanda: And another thing is that I think that In that situation, had you had the same glass or, you know, whatever the entire time, I want to remind people that other people care a lot less about what you're doing than you think. however, there are going to be scenarios where, you know, I was a peer pressure drinker.
[00:40:23]
Amanda: If somebody wanted to go drink for drink with me, I was doing that, or I was instigating that. So depending upon where you're at in your stage of life, that might be a thing. So if you're in kind of more of a club and bar scene type scenario where you have people wanting to go drink for drink. What I want you to do is, yes, do whatever makes you comfortable at first, order a mocktail, order something that looks like a drink, realize that you don't owe anyone an explanation and a lot fewer people are going to ask than you think, except for in those scenarios where people are Using your participation as a gauge for their behavior.
[00:40:55]
Amanda: Right. And that's what we're doing when we're doing those like drink for drink or I buy around you buy around thing is where we're trying to kind of affirm our own behavior at some point. So what I want for everyone, anyone who might be on this journey is to get comfortable enough with yourself and with your friendships to tell the truth.
[00:41:13]
Amanda: Because if you want to make this a longer lasting lifestyle, at some point, those people deserve to know the truth and you deserve to test those friendships and see if they can stretch beyond the liquid bond that you formed. And I think that's the part where we get really scared. It's not like, are they going to judge me?
[00:41:29]
Amanda: It's, are we still going to be friends if I choose to exclude myself from this activity or this piece of the activity? And, and so it's really about just having that bravery to have a conversation and saying, Hey. I really love you and I love spending time with you, but I'm not going to drink anymore. And so I, I'm going to keep going out until I, you know, feel tired or uncomfortable, or maybe I'll stop going out altogether, but I hope that we can find other things to do.
[00:41:53]
Amanda: That's a really adult and really difficult, vulnerable conversation to have, but that's, that's what I would want for you and your friendships is to sustain through that.
[00:42:02]
Leah: Yeah, it's interesting because even you saying that I can think of friendships that I have that just I don't know that would actually last.
[00:42:09]
Leah: when I, you know, decide to stop drinking, like, you know, I there's definitely friendships that I have that are centered around consuming alcohol. And I can imagine that that's probably some people's biggest fears or maybe why they then go back to drinking. Do you work with people who. Are going through this journey and that, you know, I guess relapse in a way, but I don't like to say relapse because that seems a little intense, but you don't, I mean, who are, they have a learning opportunity is what I like to call it.
[00:42:40]
Amanda: I, you know, a lot of the women do they struggle and they kind of go back and forth. I have a really good success rate with getting people. My initial goal is to get you 90 consecutive days, alcohol free, because once you get to that 90 day point, you kind of hit. Like a new momentum point, but along the path, there are plenty of women who have an oopsie.
[00:42:58]
Amanda: And that's really difficult because it's, it's so much easier to stop and stay stopped on your confidence because as you continue to keep that commitment to yourself, your confidence grows. And anytime you have one of those moments, it kind of is a stab to your confidence and you have to. Not only regain momentum, but rebuild that up and get rid of that negative self talk.
[00:43:18]
Amanda: So I think that that is, you know, if, if you have the means that in the mental tenacity to sustain 90 days and then reevaluate, I think that's the best case scenario for anyone who I've worked with is that they get that level of momentum and that sounds scary, but it's just what works. Is
[00:43:36]
Leah: there any situation where you think that people can have a relationship with alcohol, be mostly sober, but then, for example, maybe it's their own wedding, or their, you know, vacation, or something that's like, in Once or twice a year.
[00:43:53]
Leah: Maybe it's Christmas. Do you, do you think that there can be a healthy relationship with alcohol where it's a very occasional thing? Or do you think it always has to be an all or nothing?
[00:44:06]
Amanda: I don't think it does have to be all or nothing. I think that, and, and, and I know that we both probably know people who are very rare occasional drinkers, but what I will say is for the type of women that you and I are, who have had, Little volatile kind of wonky relationships with alcohol and have big dreams and big goals and big spiritual capacities that You are meant I'll give you actually a literal download.
[00:44:30]
Amanda: I had right in the beginning of my journey, I was in the shower and I was listening to a podcast and it was like the podcast stopped and I heard something else. And I had this rush of energy come through me. And I heard Amanda, you were meant to do big things in this life. And I can't see you doing them with alcohol in the picture.
[00:44:47]
Amanda: Yeah. And boom, at that moment, it became a non question. I didn't care about the vacation. I didn't care about the wedding. I didn't care about, I'm not, not married. So those were all big things that I had thought of. And what I realized is for me. My life is a special occasion. It's not a wedding or a vacation or whatever.
[00:45:06]
Amanda: I, I have become so comfortable with being fully present and fully tuned in that I want more of that. Now that's my rush is, is getting, getting to experience things fully and wholly, and I am no longer interested in the glass of champagne because it's just symbolic at that point. So why put, this is the only like.
[00:45:29]
Amanda: Negative thing I will say about alcohol, because I'm not one of those people who like go after big alcohol, but the fact of the matter is it's poison. And so why would I want to put that into my body? Now, granted, I, I definitely eat and drink a lot of other stuff. That's probably not great for me, but in the big scheme of things, I can just have, there's plenty of non alcoholic options.
[00:45:50]
Amanda:
I'd rather just have something that's not really like diluting my soul's essence, if I'm going to celebrate or be on vacation, I'd rather experience a vacation place. And be fully present and immersed in it. I'd rather on my wedding day be there heart, mind and soul. And if I'm going to have a bubbly drink, who cares what it is?
[00:46:09]
Amanda: If I'm only going to have one, like it could be a Sprite. I don't care. Like it's the, the fact that it's champagne is just a symbol that we've made in our world. And to me, that symbol is now pointless. . Yeah.
[00:46:23]
Leah: It's so interesting and, and I, I love so much of what you're saying. You're, you're just hitting all the, the notes that I would even have any questions about, because I think that it's so true.
[00:46:33]
Leah: Like you don't have, you can always celebrate with something else. You can have a, you know, sparkling cider or a pop . Mm-Hmm. . I'm from the Midwest again. Mm-Hmm. .
[00:46:42]
Amanda: So also you're from the Kansas City side. I know. , where are you from?
[00:46:45]
Leah: I'm from, Toledo, Ohio
[00:46:47]
Amanda: Okay, okay, so there's like a line divide where you say soda or pop.
[00:46:51]
Amanda: Yep, you're right, you're right there on the line.
[00:46:53]
Leah: Yeah, so what do you say? I say soda. You say soda. Or some people they say soda pop.
[00:46:59]
Amanda: Oh yeah, they must be right in the middle trying to keep the midwestern peace.
[00:47:01]
Leah: Yeah. So do you find that that's another tool as well that, you know, find it, find another drink to have, like if it's something about having something in your hand, like, okay.
[00:47:11]
Leah: And the other thing is there's so many, I kind of talked about this earlier with the mocktails. There's so many brands coming out with like, non alcoholic wine, non alcoholic beer, which has kind of been around for a while, but these non alcoholic, like, drinks that taste like alcohol, which is crazy to me because who even likes the taste of alcohol?
[00:47:30]
Leah: But I guess if you like, you know, you need that, like, burn or whatever, what do you think about those? Is that a tool that you give people?
[00:47:35]
Amanda: Yeah, I think that it can be really valuable, you know, I, when I stopped drinking, they had barely anything. So I kind of just learned to go without, but now in situations like I went home, you know.
[00:47:48]
Amanda: St. Louis is not home, but it's within my home state. It's where most of my college friends are from. And I went back to St. Louis for a wedding a couple of years ago and I was the maid of honor. And so I knew that the venue was not going to have any. sort of beverage for me. So I said, I'm going to bring in my own.
[00:48:03]
Amanda: So I brought in two beautiful bottles of non alcoholic bubbly. And I told the event planner, please make sure that this is what gets poured in my glass. And that's what I had all night. And it was nice, especially since I needed to give a toast to actually be able to give the toast and have a drink of something.
[00:48:17]
Amanda: And then, you know, I brought some non alcoholic beers and like hid them behind the bar. And I actually had this really cool experience where I, I was walking around and I didn't. I don't know any of the other wedding party. And I noticed one of the groomsmen had one of my beers and I'm like, how did you get my beer?
[00:48:33]
Amanda: So I go over to talk to him, like almost ready to give him a piece of my mind. Like those are mine on alcohol, my special beers. And he was like, Oh my gosh, it's so cool that these are here because I'm not really drinking. And it was like, he was so excited. I'm like, well, you're welcome. And we got to have some really great conversations too.
[00:48:53]
Amanda: And like connect over that because. It's something that now has been more normalized. You can have this thing that kind of tastes similar, is a little more fun and special than water, but it's not giving you that, , drunkenness and hangover that you would experience. So yeah, I think it's a great tool. I don't always choose to use it, but there are.
[00:49:13]
Amanda: Limitless amounts of different cocktail mocktail switcher switcheroo that you can do now that taste really, really great. And a lot of them are made now with like botanicals or other good for you things. So you're actually getting like benefits.
[00:49:28]
Leah: Yeah, I recently have been drinking, I think they're called Kins, they have them at, we have a market called, it's called Mother's Market, I think it's a chain around here.
[00:49:36]
Leah: h. They have, I mean, they have a whole section of just like little random drinks and every time I go in there I feel like I grab something new because I'm like, okay, kombucha I really like. Then I also like now they have again, the other called like botanics or botanicals. Some of them have CBD. Some of them have like aptogens, mushroom powders, like aptogenic mushrooms, where it's like supposed to be good for your mood and whatever.
[00:49:58]
Leah: And to be honest, like, I don't know that I've actually noticed a difference with my mood, if I'm more calm or whatever, when I drink some of those things, but like, it's fun. I like to have. You know, in my home, we always have La Croix, which is something that I love. Um, people either hate it or they love it, but I love La Croix.
[00:50:13]
Leah: And I love that like bubbliness that I get from it. And it's like, it's not, I don't drink it because I have a craving for alcohol. I just quite literally like that. But I kind of do the same thing with other drinks. So I'm like, I just like to have like a little new thing to try or, you know, but. So it's so, so cool just to kind of see that the, there's so many options that we do have to go on this journey and there's so much support and, you know, you're really paving the way for this support where, you know, you have a community that you've built on Instagram and you have this book that you're coming out with in these programs that you've created and you know, it's, it's becoming more normalized, whereas like three years ago, this wasn't a normal thing.
[00:50:50]
Leah: And now we're really seeing it become. Really normal. And so I'm so happy that you exist because, I mean, not only have you just changed my relationship with alcohol in this episode, but, and everyone else listening, I'm sure is now going to really think about some things, but also it's, it's paving the way for where we're going.
[00:51:09]
Leah: And I think that more so than ever, we're going to start to see people become completely sober. And, you know, I kind of envision alcohol being something weird at some point where it's like, why would you do that to yourself? Yeah.
[00:51:20]
Amanda: Yeah. Especially, you know, as. Individuals who are listening, who are interested in embodying and living out their design, you will be have so much more access to all of those aspects of yourself.
[00:51:35]
Amanda: If you choose to just fully show up for yourself. And I know that people are coming to you for your expertise because they want to be in tune with these superpower, you know, levels of self and really, really be their truest self and understand how to operate. And if you're always. Screwing with the operation.
[00:51:55]
Amanda: It's not going to work the same. And so alcohol is not bad, wrong, or evil. You're not bad or broken or doing something wrong if you drink, but you could just be so much more powerful and tuned in if you didn't. And I, I really want your listeners to hear that because of their interest in themselves. Like you deserve to be your full self and the world deserves to get access to your full self.
[00:52:17]
Amanda: And if you're drinking, the fact of the matter is you're not doing that. You're not going to be your highest self.
[00:52:22]
Leah: No. So I want to end by asking you a few questions and I, I just started doing this and I'm actually flipping through my notebook at the moment because I wrote them down. Yeah. I basically have only done solo episodes.
[00:52:34]
Leah: And then as of the past month, I've brought on a bunch of guests and I've been asking everyone the same questions, at the end, you know, how podcasts do that. The first one that I ask is. What so in your human design? Well, first, before I do that, I guess I should say, is there anything else that you want to add about alcohol?
[00:52:52]
Leah: through and I'll ask you some questions related just in this sort of speed round. But if there's anything else you wanted to add?
[00:52:57]
Amanda: No, I think that that last point really just is what I wanted to drive home for everyone listening. I think that's really important for people living out their design.
[00:53:05]
Amanda: Okay, perfect.
[00:53:06]
Leah: so I wanted to ask you, okay, so this is a human design. We talk about human design a lot because that's what I do. And so those of you listening, Amanda's a four, six, sacral manifesting generator, and she's got all of the integration channels, which is basically all of the channels that make someone a manifesting generator.
[00:53:23]
Leah: So, Yeah. The 34 to 20, the 34. So, and then she also has a channel of marketing, the 44 to 26, which is everyone knows that's my favorite. Cause that's the one I have that channel as well. So asking one of the things I like to ask is like, what is your favorite thing about your
[00:53:42]
Amanda: human design chart? I think this is going to be a broad answer, but my, truly my favorite thing is that it exists.
[00:53:49]
Amanda: And then I know about it because I operated, I only got my human design read. Let's say, oh, it was in 2019 when I was leading my corporate job and I was taking a transition job and they had me have my human design read during that time. Oh my gosh. That's so cool. So rad. Well, they had me, they had me sit with a reader who did Myers Briggs and human design and he took, he literally had me on the phone for four hours doing my Myers Briggs because I'm such a elusive.
[00:54:21]
Amanda: Wonderful character. And then he's like, Oh yeah, by the way, I ran this other thing for you. Here's your human design chart, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And I look at this map and I'm like, the hell is this? And I asked him to explain it. And for the first time in my life, I'm like, wow. This is who I am. And it felt like so true and so freeing because I'd been operating off of all of these self help books that are written by dudes telling you how to like optimize and do this and do that, and this is how you should run your life and your business.
[00:54:52]
Amanda: And it was all crap that yeah, some of it worked, but none of it was for me. And all of this was just uniquely me. And it reminded me that some of the ways in which I thought that I was weird or strange or different. Or couldn't quite figure shit out in life was actually just my unique makeup. And now that I have this tool that I can understand that.
[00:55:13]
Amanda: Yeah, there's some times where I have to bypass it and just like muscle through for something. But I can look at myself and say, you're not a weirdo. You're not strange because you don't get it. Like. Those dudes do like you are who you're supposed to be and it's just like a huge permissions permission slit.
[00:55:29]
Leah: Oh my gosh, I love that. And that's what I tell people every time they want to learn more about what I do. I think so many people think that human design is like some woowoo tool. And for sure, like it can be woowoo but I'm like, just lean in and understand, like, learn about your human design. And you'll be fascinated by what is there.
[00:55:46]
Leah: And, you know, I always say human design brought language to my soul that I'd been searching for. And it sounds like it did the same for you where it was like, okay, wow, this is, I'm not crazy or I'm not weird, or these are just parts of who I am. And so. Thank you. That's, that's the most beautiful share that I've heard yet, , about your human design.
[00:56:03]
Leah: And I mean, and my personal take on your human design, it's a really beautiful chart. I mean, such a powerful sacral, which is your gut,, which I heard you kind of talk a little bit about your gut and your intuition. You, your gut's directly tied to your spleen, which is all about instincts and intuition.
[00:56:18]
Leah: And you've got this channel that connects it there. It's really powerful. And so it's really cool just to see. That come through your chart and, you know, you have a very powerful voice and the direction that you take, you've got this, you know, defined identity. It's, it's no surprise that you kind of have this ability to, you know, know where you want to go and, and identify with that and express yourself in a specific way.
[00:56:39]
Leah: And you have a defined ego, which is when I say that some people are like ego, my gosh, ego is a bad thing. It's not, I have a defined ego too, but having defined ego is all about like. Having a sense of willpower and a sense of motivation and constantly knowing, you know, where you want to go and why you're worthy for certain things.
[00:56:55]
Leah: And you totally were embodying that in so much of what you were saying. So, and then you're also, you know, divine empathy, you have an undefined, emotional center, which means that you actually feel the emotions of other people. So, so beautiful just to hear your shares there. just, I just love to, yeah.
[00:57:11]
Amanda: I love hearing other people interpret because every expert explains of slightly differently, and it's so helpful to hear other people's explanations, too. so thank you for that.
[00:57:23]
Leah: Yeah, of course. And so the other question I ask people is what is something that you are manifesting right now? Or that you want to manifest here soon.
[00:57:33]
Amanda: Yes. So, you know, with my book coming out, I have all of these dreams and desires of different shows that I want to be on or people who I want to connect with or ways in which I want the book to be successful because that means it reaches more people.
[00:57:47]
Amanda: So I have this little bag of trinkets that has my book outline in it that has some very sacred manifestations in it about the book and how I want it to like, Be birthed out into the world. And I think that I will keep those for me, but they're all very, very sacred, special things about how I get to share my work in a bigger way.
[00:58:05]
Amanda: And I also just feel that I have had made myself so magnetic that I can't wait to see which of those and how they come to fruition. Yeah.
[00:58:15]
Leah: Oh, I love that. That's so beautiful. And the way that you had to have it all sort of packaged together to where it's like this little manifestation, I don't know, like little bucket or for me, I have a, I have a little wooden box and I put little letters and notes in there with my crystals and it's like my manifestation box.
[00:58:30]
Leah: Yes. And so it's kind of like you have created your own little, you know,
[00:58:34]
Amanda: Yeah. Just for this one little aspect of my life, I have it in there.
[00:58:38]
Leah: Okay, well, I'm manifesting that for you that you are going to have the most successful book launch. I know you will because it's incredible and you're incredible.
[00:58:46]
Leah: And so what are some ways, so I know you've probably been busy, you're writing this book and all the PR surrounding it. What are some ways that you take care of yourself?
[00:58:56]
Amanda: Well, sometimes I forget, forget that's number one, and that's okay. I, you know, I try to be much more mindful and regimented about just listening to what does my body need right now?
[00:59:10]
Amanda: Because I have a habit of getting into a routine and doing just the same thing over and over. And so for example, you know, this specific week that we're talking, I'm just returning from a trip. And I'm happening to return to my gym on the week that we do a very, very high intense week. And this morning I was going to go to my favorite instructor's class.
[00:59:30]
Amanda: I'm like, you know what? That intensity is just not for me this week. So I'm going to go off routine and I'm going to skip and I'm going to go to yoga instead. And if I would have just skipped to flat out, skip, that would have been fine. But just listening and knowing what my body needs instead of powering through is, is very important.
[00:59:47]
Amanda: And then my other secret to my success is anytime I freak out, I go do one of two things, which is go sit in the grass at the park. or go to the walk in foot spa and get a foot massage. Oh my gosh, I love that. And those are both my like magic 9 1 1 tricks.
[01:00:03]
Leah: And curious too, have you noticed with not drinking, have you noticed with your physical body a difference in, you know, appearance or, you know, even like, cause I know some people when they drink, it's like, Puffiness.
[01:00:17]
Leah: Have you noticed like you, your relationship with your body has changed dramatically too?
[01:00:21]
Amanda: Oh, I am so much more. I sleep better. My body feels better. I, you know, I'm eating better because I'm not, you know, hung over or making those choices that the first year I'm, you know, six and a half years in the first year.
[01:00:34]
Amanda: And I'm, I'm pretty like well defined muscular lead, but the first year I was. Like I went to the gym all the time because I was bored and, you know, was just able to eat whatever I wanted. And so I have the, like my first couple of years, I was just like so strong and I'm still so strong, but I'm not the same age I was and, you know, do not go quite as many times to the gym as I did that year, but I was, yeah, your body can change drastically when you are not spending time on alcohol and making your body spend time process it.
[01:01:09]
Leah: I love that. Yeah. That that doesn't convince you ladies or gentlemen listening, . Yeah. And then my final question is just what's your favorite quote or what's a quote that kind of gets you by, or a phrase that you live by?
[01:01:22]
Amanda: Hmm. So I think that I would give you this really beautiful prayer from, I'm a student and a teacher of the, of a Course in Miracles.
[01:01:30]
Amanda: And if you dunno, it's a metaphysical spiritual text. That is pretty non denominational. It's been kind of a guiding force in what I do. And there is this beautiful prayer that you can use anytime that you're not really sure what to do. And it is, where would you have me go? What would you have me do? What would you have me say and to whom?
[01:01:48]
Amanda: And I, Probably say that prayer every day, just asking for a little guidance and giving the uni verse permission to guide me., because you have free will and unless you invite the universe in, you are likely to miss some of the miracles that are available to you. So I think that's probably the most important for me.
[01:02:05]
Amanda: My God, that's so beautiful.
[01:02:06]
Leah: I am so happy that you decided to come on this podcast and to share your wisdom in this. ever evolving space that I think more and more people are starting to wake up to. And so thank you so much for taking time out of your day to share about your purpose in the world and your passion.
[01:02:26]
Leah: And, and, what are some ways that people can work with you? Where can they find you?
[01:02:31]
Amanda: And yeah, absolutely. Well, you can buy my book wherever books are sold. It's called unbottled potential. And I think it really takes a novel approach to living alcohol free. I would love, love, love if you support me through there.
[01:02:42]
Amanda: And then I'd love to connect with you on Instagram. That's my main social media channel. I'm at Amanda Kuda. and my last name is K U D A and I'm pretty active there. So if anything we talked about resonated with you, I'd love to chat with you. My DMS are just. Have you lurk around if you're just curious and not sure what you want to do yet.
[01:02:59]
Leah: There’s tons of great resources on her page, by the way.
[01:03:02]
Amanda: Thank you. Yeah.
[01:03:05]
Leah: Well, we'll put everything down in the show notes and Amanda, thank you so much for being here.
[01:03:08]
Amanda: I'm so glad. Thank you.
